We’re right in the midst of our annual coat drive, this year benefitting the unbelievable mission of Goodwill Industries. Our next event in which YOU can bring your coats or other winter apparel to benefit our drive is this coming Tuesday, December 16th, at 7:30PM at Adams Jeep of Aberdeen. We’ll be hanging out with Ravens RB Justin Forsett. As you know, this is Justin’s first year in Baltimore and we can’t wait for him to experience the purple love that we know you’ll show him as the Ravens head down the most important stretch of the season.

Instead of charging to come to the show or for an autograph, all we’re asking you is to bring a coat in order to meet Justin and get his autograph. The folks at Adams Jeep have listed the event on eventbrite.com, and the “tickets” are limited as there is a very high demand. If you have been able to secure a ticket, simply bring your ticket along with at least one piece of winter clothing for Goodwill. (Note: We would love for you to bring more than one piece of winter clothing, but we can only guarantee one autograph per person, regardless of how many items you bring given the time restraint and the fact that we need to have Justin out of Adams Jeep in time for their game in Houston on Sunday, December 21st).

If you have not been able to secure a ticket, we would still love for you to come out and hang out at the show, help our cause, get swabbed courtesy of There Goes My Hero if you haven’t already, and PERHAPS there will be time at the end to say hello to Justin. We just can’t guarantee it as these events have been known to get a bit crazy given the passionate purple fans here in Baltimore, and we don’t want anyone to leave with a bad experience. This is a night of purple fun, holiday spirit and giving, and an overall celebration of what Ravens fans are all about! So we hope to see you out at Adams Jeep on Tuesday with coats in hand!

As always, thanks to our presenting sponsor Carl Delmont & Freedmont Mortgage for their continued support. Don’t make a 30 year mistake by choosing the wrong lender. Call Freedmont Mortgage! Also thanks to our good friends at Royal Farms or being a part of this event, as well as Enoch Office, Rugenix, and UMBC. Thanks to Goodwill for being such an awesome organization and partner of WNST and we can’t wait for another huge Goodwill truck to pull up to the WNST studios to pick up this year’s batch of clothing from our coat drive! And it goes without saying that if you need an awesome jeep and are looking for a car buying experience like none other, with a staff that makes YOU feel like part of THEIR family, you better check in with the people at Adams Jeep of Aberdeen. They can do things to your next jeep that you never even knew were possible. Trust us!

Last but certainly not least, as mentioned above, There Goes My Hero will be in the house once again adding people to the bone marrow registry. We’ve swabbed 100 new people over the past week at Greenmount Station & Buffalo Wild Wings Bel Air. Our goal is to match that number in one night on Tuesday night at Adams Jeep. Click here for more info on the swabbing process and requirements.

Thanks to all of you for continuing support everything we do in the community at WNST. If you all didn’t continue to show up and support our sponsors, events, and charity initiatives, we wouldn’t be here. We appreciate each and every one of you during this holiday season, and we can’t wait for you to join us in 2015. We’re dreaming big and we hope you’ll join us along the way!

Attention Washington Capitals fans: This is your chance to ROCK YOUR RED! We at WNST, in conjunction with Comcast SportsNet, are pleased to announce a live appearance with Capitals head coach Barry Trotz on Wednesday, December 10th at Buffalo Wild Wings in Bel Air. The puck drops at 730pm! We’ll reminisce with Coach Trotz about his old days leading the Baltimore Skipjacks, and we’ll talk about his transition back to Washington D.C. as head coach of the Caps. Does he feel that the Caps are close to contending for a Stanley Cup? We’ll cover all of that and much more in a night of great food, fun, and puck talk at Buffalo Wild Wings in Bel Air!

Coach Trotz will be signing autographs and taking pictures with fans, but there will be a limit of one per person (time permitting).

As has become a WNST tradition, the great folks from There Goes My Hero will be in the house swabbing anyone who has not yet been added to the bone marrow transplant database. If you are between the ages of 18-55 and have not yet “swabbed,” please visit There Goes My Hero and learn more about how you can save a life by swabbing a Q-Tip inside your mouth for 30 seconds. Seriously! We’ve swabbed over a thousand people and have raised tens of thousands of dollars since we began our #JennStrong initiative this past spring. It’s our mission here at WNST to save as many lives as humanly possible, and we thank Coach Trotz for helping us work towards that goal!

As always, a special thanks to our friends at Freedmont Mortgage for presenting all of our live events here at WNST. If you’re looking to buy or refinance a home, don’t make a 30 year mistake by choosing the wrong lender – visit Freedmont Mortgage now! Also thanks to Enoch Office and Rugenix for their continued support. Rob and the gang at Buffalo Wild Wings in Bel Air will take care of making sure your food is delicious as always – all YOU have to do is show up rocking your red! See you on December 10th, Caps fans!

We’re quickly approaching the midway point of 2014-which means we’re preparing to celebrate our 16 and a half(th?) birthday here at WNST. Yes, we’re also expecting a card from you for this one.

We’ve been marking our 16th year of being Baltimore’s sports media leader by going over some of the more significant “water cooler” topics of the WNST era. Each week we attempt to “define” the topic with a list we’re calling the #WNSTSweet16 here at WNST.net.

The concept doesn’t exactly take an Ivy Leaguer to figure out. In fact, we’ve noticed that even some of the folks who listen to the “other” station in town have managed to be able to participate. Remarkable.

If you’ve missed any of the first 21 Sweet 16 lists we’ve put together this year, here’s a look back. (The #WNSTSweet16 is brought to you by Jerry’s Automotive!)

“The Nasty One” himself is back at the helm of the #WNSTSweet16 in Week 22 and taking on another very difficult list.

I had the pleasure of speaking at Aberdeen High School last week to a group of kids that included a great number of seniors. We discussed opportunity, preparation and reaching goals after graduating from high school. For so many of them, the chat was particularly important because they were less than a week away from joining the “real world”.

It is graduation season throughout the region, which made us think about some of the great athletes who have graduated from Charm City area high schools. This stream of consciousness should probably tell you that this week’s topic is the “Sweet 16 greatest local high school athletes”.

We have certainly been blessed in this area to have had the first opportunity to see quite a number of incredible athletes here in this area. We probably could have made a list using Dunbar basketball players alone, as the likes of Reggie Williams, Reggie Lewis, Sam Cassell, Skip Wise, Muggsy Bogues, Kurk Lee, David Wingate and Keith Booth are all really good options to make this list.

I do not envy…in any way…the responsibility Nestor has in putting this list together. We haven’t even talked about the soccer players, wrestlers, runners, swimmers and others who are certainly also deserving of consideration. This list is going to be REALLY tough.

Nestor wants your suggestions. You can leave them here in the comments on this blog post or email him (nasty@wnst.net). We will be discussing the list throughout the day Monday on AM1570 WNST.net. We’d love to have you Tweet with us or discuss the topic via Facebook by using the hashtag #WNSTSweet16.

On Tuesday morning, Nes will unveil the “official” list here at WNST.net and then discuss it with Drew and Luke on “The D&L Window Tinting Morning Reaction” at 8am. He will then re-visit the list at 4pm Tuesday on “The Happy Hours”.

Shack Stanwick might be just the latest tremendous athlete we had the opportunity to see locally over the last school year. As it wraps up, let’s recognize the greatest we’ve ever seen. Make your voice heard!

This is the part of our weekly #WNSTSweet16 introduction where I remind you that we’re celebrating our 16th anniversary here at WNST. I feel like you should probably have caught on to how we do these things by now.

To celebrate our 16th year as Baltimore’s sports media leader, we’re discussing various “water cooler” topics from the WNST era every week and defining them via a list. We’re calling it the #WNSTSweet16. It’s been a lot of fun. You should probably call your family and friends and let them know they’ll want to be a part of this thing.

We’ve already hit 14 topics this year as part of our #WNSTSweet16 celebration. Did you miss any of them? (Shame on you if you did.) Here’s a quick recap.

The Nasty One himself, Nestor Aparicio is in charge of the Sweet 16 again this week.

As you may be aware, I’m a fan of a nice Easter treat. I prefer Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs to Cadbury Creme Eggs and I DEFINITELY prefer Starburst Jelly Beans to Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (and if you disagree I hope you’ll do the right thing and just leave the country); but I at least respect all treats equally.

As Baltimore sports fans, we’ve been “treated” to some awesome things in our lives. Some of them have been individual games-games we’ll remember forever and we can recall details about no matter how far away we’ve gotten from them.

This week’s list is meant for those games. These are the games that made us sit on the edge of our seat, the games that made us sweat as if we were actually playing in them. The official topic is “Sweet 16 Games we’ve been treated to”.

While it seems like the 1958 NFL Championship Game will be hard to beat on this list, I wonder if the factor of time will play a role here. While the game has come to be known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played”, much of the aura surrounding it is based on the significance of the game and less about the game itself-although we certainly know the game was quite good.

But what are the greatest games in Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles history? Until 2012 I think I would have declared the win over the Tennessee Titans in the 2000 NFL Playoffs (January 2001) the best game-but how can you argue against the Mile High Miracle and 2OT thrilling nature of the Wild Card win over the Broncos?

I’m hard pressed to tell you what the greatest game in Orioles history might be. We all remember great hits, great moments and great plays-but what was the most dramatic game? If this were my list, I’d be needing a ton of help.

To me the greatest Maryland basketball game I’ve ever seen was the thrilling Elite 8 contest against UConn in Syracuse back in 2002. I’ve shared my feelings about the game more than a few times, including a love letter I wrote on the 10th anniversary of the game a few years back.

And perhaps the most difficult part for Nestor will be remembering that the area team didn’t have to win the game in question. This list isn’t supposed to be for the greatest wins in local sports history, it’s meant to be about the greatest games. It can be any combination.

What needs to be on the list? This is where you come in.

Nestor wants your ideas. Leave them here in the comments or email him via nasty@wnst.net. We will be discussing the list throughout the day Monday on AM1570 WNST.net. We’d love to have you Tweet with us or discuss the topic via Facebook by using the hashtag #WNSTSweet16.

On Tuesday morning, Nasty will unveil the “official” list here at WNST.net and then discuss it with Drew and Luke on “The D&L Window Tinting Morning Reaction” at 8am. He will then re-visit the list at 4pm Tuesday on “The Happy Hours”.

What games still give you chills when you think about them today? Let your voice be heard!

We’re into the third week of our year long #WNSTSweet16 celebration, recognizing a remarkable 16 years of WNST.net as Baltimore’s sports media leader.

To mark the occasion, we’re spending the year looking into the biggest “water cooler” topics in Baltimore sports history. If you’ve missed our first couple of lists, take a look back on them. Last week Luke Jones celebrated the NFL Playoffs by looking into the greatest postseason moments in local sports history. We introduced #WNSTSweet16 the week before when I took a look at the greatest debuts in local sports history.

As a country this week we’re recognizing one of our greatest Americans. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an incredible visionary and leader of the civil rights movement. We recognized the 50th anniversary of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington just last August and continue to recognize the role he played in bringing social justice in our country as we celebrate MLK Day Monday.

It’s with that in mind that this week’s list is about “dreamers” as well. “The Nasty One” himself Nestor Aparicio will take on this week’s topic, the “#WNSTSweet16 Local Sports Figures Who Had A Dream”.

This is where we need your help. Nestor certainly has an idea of which 16 dreamers should be included in this list, but he wants your help to come up with those he might not have thought of and where these dreamers should rank on this list. Like in other weeks, we’re looking to make a “definitive” list, not just a personal opinion list.

As I thought about the possibilities for this week’s list, a number of names came to mind. William Donald Schaefer had a dream for downtown Baltimore that was heavy in local sports. Former Maryland football player Kevin Plank had a dream for a product that would help athletes in tough conditions that would ultimately lead to one of the biggest companies in the world. Lefty Driesell had a dream to make Maryland “the UCLA of the East”, Gary Williams had a dream for a new basketball facility in College Park.

Art Modell had a dream to re-create a football culture in Charm City, Steve Bisciotti had a dream to take that franchise even further. Daryl Hill had a dream to integrate the ACC. John Rallo had a dream to bring Mixed Martial Arts to the state of Maryland, Bob Bowman had a dream to coach Olympic swimming champions. Peter Angelos had a dream to…well…I’m not entirely sure.

Who else? What other local sports figures were “dreamers”? Where should they rank? Let us know here in the comments. We’ll be discussing our “dreamers” throughout the day Monday on AM1570 WNST.net. We encourage you to discuss the topic Monday via social media by using the hashtag #WNSTSweet16. On Tuesday morning, Nestor will unveil the list here at WNST.net and he will discuss it with Luke Jones on “The D&L Window Tinting Morning Reaction” Tuesday morning at 8am. He’ll then check back in Tuesday afternoon at 4pm on “The Reality Check Driven by Jerry’s Chevrolet” to discuss the list with me.

To those who celebrate, I’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas. To those who don’t, I hope you enjoy/enjoyed your holidays/Winter celebrations.

I don’t have a lot for you today, but what I have is important.

You guys never cease to amaze me. Never. I wandered downstairs Monday morning at The Zone Superstore Studios in Towson and looked around and just felt dumbfounded.

The picture I snapped wasn’t even CLOSE to a reflection of how many coats/jackets/hats/etc. you all had collected. It was incredible. It was overwhelming. I was truly moved. I never know how our charity events/drives are going to go and I’m probably a bit more obsessive than necessary when it comes to these things.

It’s personal for me. Personal in that I’ve known people-in fact I’ve known people well-who have gone to facilities just like The Helping Up Mission. Truth be told, I’ve had close friends who have needed to right their life at The Mission.

This is Baltimore. This is “Smalltimore”. It’s Christmas, forgive my emotions. This really is something that matters that much to me. I’m grateful to find myself roughly a decade into my career as a sports talk host at a station I grew up listening to, but I am not capable of funding or lifting up these places on my own.

To have the opportunity to lend my voice and my heart to places like The Helping Up Mission…I can’t really describe it. But as Drew and I always say, these events aren’t about “us”, per se. We’re not the WNST community. We’re merely the members of the WNST community with the microphones in front of us.

The WNST community is made up of local sports fans-people who care deeply about the Orioles, Ravens, Capitals, Maryland, Towson, Navy, UMBC, etc. More importantly, the WNST community is made up of people who care DESPERATELY about our community. People who aren’t in Charm City because they have to be-people that are here because this is HOME.

The scene at The Helping Up Mission Monday was overwhelming. Hundreds of men came through the Conference Room to sift through those thousands or items to find clothes for themselves and for their families. For many of the men, this was their only opportunity to provide a Christmas for their loved ones.

Each man stopped to say “thank you” and “Merry Christmas”. Like every year, it was incredibly moving. After the residents came through, the staff of the Helping Up Mission brought dozens more Baltimoreans in RIGHT OFF THE STREET to find those coats that could help keep them warm. The items that were leftover after that point were then sent to other shelters throughout Baltimore.

You saved Christmas, WNST community. You guys are heroes. Every single one of you.

Even after these thousands of items were taken to the HUM, roughly a thousand more were headed to Goodwill as well.

An unscientific poll from WNST/Enoch Office Equipment and the Mission determined the 2013 Coat Drive (our fifth) to be significantly our most successful. That’s what the WNST community is. That’s what the WNST community does.

That’s why I’m so damn grateful to be a part of the WNST community this and every holiday season. You collected THOUSANDS of canned goods and non-perishable food items for SARC in Harford County and just a month later collected thousands of coats and winter weather items. Who does that?

You guys rock. I don’t know what else to say. You’re my Christmas miracle once again.

Please let me use this space to thank all of those who have helped us. Drew Forrester envisioned this five years ago. His idea at the time was to simply drive downtown and start handing out coats. Tony from Rosedale wisely directed us instead to HUM, where Barry Burnett has coordinated with us every year.

Rick Donovan and Sherrie Jones from Enoch Office Equipment have been a vital part of this since Day 1. There’s a reason Joe Enoch has been able to put together such a successful business. His crew is amazing. They help us transport the coats, they collect coats, they advertise the campaign, they set up the “shopping” time and Rick and Sherrie walk around with each man in the Mission to help them find exactly what they need.

Peter DiLutis, Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones, Thyrl Nelson, Ryan Chell, Paul Kopelke, Ashley Bishoff, Brett Dickinson, Barry Kamen, Shawn Credle, Max Buchdahl, Ethan Felderstein, Nick Dorsey, etc. etc. etc. make up the WNST crew that attacks this drive at a level comparable to breaking a story about the Ravens or fielding a paying client. They’re awesome at EVERYTHING they do-especially when it comes time to do the right thing for the community.

Buffalo Wild Wings in White Marsh, Bel Air and Owings Mills all went out of their way to host drives this month-sometimes even risking fire code! Ravens LB Jameel McClain, LS Morgan Cox, OT Eugene Monroe, WR Marlon Brown, WR/KR Jacoby Jones and DL Chris Canty all kindly signed footballs to give away in exchange for gear. The WWE and Baltimore Arena provided tickets to give away, as did Rams Head Live and The Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric. Jason Butt and Triumph Books donated incentives, as did The Zone Superstore, Freedmont Mortgage, Gary S. Williams & Ronnie Lott, Press Box and more.

If I’ve forgotten anyone I apologize profusely. An undertaking of this size doesn’t happen without the support of many.

But it’s you the listeners-the WNST community-that have come through the most. This drive ONLY happens because of you. The WNST community is amazing. The WNST community is the best representation of our city I could ever possibly imagine.